Okay, so sometimes we're a tad wrong. Four years ago we wrote, "In the next 18 months, expect to see general-purpose applications start to offer 3-D components." A year later, we compounded this errant prediction by assuring our readers that "3-D graphics will finally move beyond games and start appearing in applications for business users."

Obviously, we were off. Despite the promises of the graphics chip makers, the killer apps we were told about3-D user interfaces and data visualization applicationshave failed to materialize.

To be sure, the hardware continues to get more and more impressive. The latest generation of graphics cards has reached a new level of performance, and every PC shipped in the past three years has some level of 3-D graphics acceleration built in. But for what?

"Let's face it, there just aren't any mainstream business uses for 3-D," says Peter Galskowsky, senior editor of Microprocessor Report, a newsletter based in Sunnyvale, California. Galskowsky notes that some companies, such as The Sharper Image and Volkswagen, have 3-D product images on their sites that visitors can download. He adds, "It's still more eye candy than a critical function."

That's not to say there are no business tasks where 3-D rendering has had a significant impact. Product previewing in industrial design and advanced engineering analysis couldn't be done without it. Much of this is initiated on workstations, though when the files have to be shared with a larger group, sophisticated 3-D capability at the PC level is important. But that amounts to only a few hundred thousand users.

Which means that, as always, the cutting-edge cards we tested for this story are mostly of interest to gamers and a handful of professionals. There have been so many new developments in this area that last year's hot 3-D cards are now consigned to the bargain basement. That's good news for business buyers, who can at least delve into limited improved graphics while paying only about $120 to $150, compared with $350 or more for the latest model of 3-D cards.

Why spend even that much, when there are so few applications? If you've ever waited for a screen to refresh or Microsoft Word to scroll down a page, you'll appreciate the 2-D ability of these lower-cost boards and get good-enough multimedia and 3-D capabilities as well.

The Year Of The Giga

The gigahertz barrier has been broken for CPUs, and in lockstep, gigapixel and gigatexel are now common terms in this latest generation of 3-D processors. To give you an idea of how far PC graphics have come in the past 12 months: The fastest 3-D chips now are a little over twice as fast as last year's best offeringsa testament to a pace of innovation that leaves Moore's Law eating dust. And DirectX 3, the newest incarnation of Microsoft's 3-D API, should let these chips' power shine.

So what should your next graphics card be? Well, like so many things in the computing world, it depends. Given the versatility of current cards, you'll need to decide what you want to use the card for. If you're an avid gamer, then your next card should emphasize 3-D performance. If you're a business user, look for the fastest 2-D performance, as well as such other features as the ability to output to two monitors simultaneously. And if you're a video hound, a card with robust video capture and editing capacities should fill the bill.

Here We Go Again

At the risk of sounding like the magazine who cried wolf, there is some movement toward the mainstream for 3-D. Honest.

Intel and Macromedia, for example, are working to incorporate 3-D capabilities into Macromedia's popular Flash Web development tools. So you could at least make the argument that if you are investing in a new system now, you'll want to specify the fastest 3-D graphics you can get so you'll be ready for these applications.

In the meantime, let the games begin.

Despite the promises of the graphics chip makers, the killer apps we were told about3-D user interfaces and data visualization applicationshave failed to materialize.

Dave came to have his insatiable tech jones by way of music—and because his parents wouldn't let him run away to join the circus. After a brief and ill-fated career in professional wrestling, Dave now covers audio, HDTV, and 3D graphics technologies at ExtremeTech.
Dave came to ExtremeTech as its first hire from Computer Gaming World, where he was Technical Director and Lead (okay, the only) Saxophonist for five years. While there, he and Loyd Case pioneered the area of testing 3D graphics using PC...
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